In My Dreams
by docsangel
Summary: When a simple assistant catches the eye of a modern day gangster, will they be able to make a relationship work or will the other variables get in the way?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

I have been working as an assistant in Councilwoman, Mariah Dillard's office for just a couple of months and as much as I love my job, it's not my dream job. Like most people, I work to pay my bills so you take what you can get. I do my job well and keep to myself. I don't pay attention to the gossip that goes around the office and that is how I prefer to keep it. Mariah's cousin Cornell Stokes, also known as Cottonmouth, comes in to see his dear cousin at least once a week. It seems they are as close as brother and sister. 'It's good to have family around.' I think to myself as Mr Stokes comes into the office for his weekly visit. "Good morning Mr Stokes, Ms Dillard is expecting you." I say as I take his coat before he walks into Mariah's office. I see his normal entourage of security take their normal positions in the waiting area as I go about my job.

An hour later, Cornell comes out and I hand him his coat. "Thank you, Ana." he says before putting his coat on. "Have a good day Mr Stokes." I say, making sure to show him respect. After he leaves, Mariah comes to the door and says "Ana, a moment please?" I walk into her office and she closes the door. "I am meeting my cousin at his club tonight. Can you reschedule my last two appointments and see if they can come tomorrow please?" she asked. "Yes ma'am." I say as I jot the notes down. "Also, can you call my car to be here in half an hour?" she asked. "Right away Ms Dillard." I say. "You're doing a great job, Ana. Keep up the good work." she tells me. "Thank you. That means a lot." I tell her before leaving the office to start on the tasks she's given me. A few minutes later, I knock on her door. "Come in." she says. I walk in and say "Both appointments are rescheduled for the same times tomorrow and your car is out front whenever you are ready." I tell her. "Perfect." she says as she puts on her coat and as she heads out the door she says "Have a good night Ana." Smiling softly I say "Same to you Ms Dillard." before she walks out the door. I finish out my work for the day and leave to go home for the night.

Walking into the office the next morning, I am there before Mariah, as usual. I have her coffee ready as she walks in the door promptly at 8am and have my notepad ready to review the schedule for the day. "You have a meeting with the Mayor at 9am, the reports are on your desk. You have a lunch meeting at noon with Mr Jenkins at the Tavern and then you have the two that you rescheduled at 3pm and 4pm. I'll have everything you need for those meetings before you have to meet with them." I tell her. "Wonderful. Thank you Ana." she tells me. I walk out to my desk and see that the Mayor is walking in. "Good morning Mr Mayor. Can I get you some coffee?" I asked. "No thank you." he says as I show him to Mariah's office. After the meeting he goes to leave and I stand to show respect. "Have a good day Mr Mayor." I say. "To you as well." he responds as he leaves. Mariah leaves for her lunch meeting with notes in hand. Once she comes back, she has a little while before her next two meetings. "Here are your notes for the last two meetings. Everything is in order. If you think of anything else you need please let me know." I tell her. "Thank you." she says and starts going over her notes. "My cousin will be stopping by. Please show him in when he gets here." she says. "Yes, ma'am." I say.

A few minutes later, Cornell walks in with his normal entourage, but this time he has another man with him. The man is dressed in a black on black, three piece suit that seems to be taylor fitted just for him. He has a shaved head, masculine build, walks with a mysterious and dangerous swagger, and wearing a dark pair of shades that hide his eyes perfectly. He has a slight smirk on his lips that is just mesmerizing. As Cornell walks in, I take his coat and say "Ms Dillard is expecting you Mr Stokes." He smiles and says "Thank you Ana." He walks in with the mysterious man right behind him.

Half an hour later, they walk out and as I hand Cornell his coat, he says "Thank you Ana. You have a wonderful day, my dear." Smiling like I always do I say "Thank you Mr Stokes. Same to you." as he walks out the door with his entourage following. The mysterious man, the last to leave, looks back at me and his smirk is more prominent, causing a blush to creep across my cheeks.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The next week, I am sitting at my desk, typing up a letter for Mariah when Cornell walks in with his normal guys and the mysterious one is back. I take Cornell's coat as Mariah opens her door to see them into her office. "Thank you Ana." Cornell says and I nod. I see the same mysterious man follow them inside and as he turns to close the door, he simply nods at me. Blushing slightly, because I am a shy girl by nature, I sit back at my desk and get back to work.

An hour later, Cornell, Mariah and the mysterious one, walk out of her office. I hand Cornell his coat and he says "Thank you. Ana." The mysterious one speaks up. "Why don't you join us tonight at the club. I'm sure you could use a night out to relax." he says with a slight smirk. "Oh, I'm sure she has other plans already." Mariah says and I sense she doesn't want me there. "Thank you for the offer but as Ms Dillard said, I do have a prior engagement. But I do appreciate the invitation." I say politely. "Have a good night then." the mysterious one says. After they leave, Mariah turns to me and says "Stay away from that one, Ana. He's already spoken for." she says as she turns her gaze back to the door. "Of course Ms Dillard." I say as I go back to my work.

That evening, as Mariah goes to leave, she says "You have a wonderful weekend, Ana." I smile and say "You too Ms Dillard." before she walks out the door. I finish up for the day and head out to start my peaceful weekend at home alone. Walking out of the building, the night guard wishes me a good evening as I start my walk to my apartment. I get to the edge of the building when someone comes out of the shadows. It's the mysterious man that's been coming with Cornell. "Good evening Ana." he says. "Good evening." I say as I keep walking...with him still walking beside me. "You really shouldn't be walking out here alone." he says. "I walk it everyday. But thank you." I say hoping he will leave me be. No such luck. "Why did you decline my invitation for tonight?" he asked. "Like Ms Dillard said, I already have plans." I tell him, still looking forward. He gently grabs my elbow to stop me from walking. "I know that's what you said but something tells me you don't." he says. Looking at him, still wearing his sunglasses, I say "Here you invited me yet I don't even know your name." I say and I don't know where this hidden courage is coming from. "Shades." he says. "Ah. Appropriate." I say. "Now, why did you decline my invitation?" he asked again. "Why did you invite me when you are already spoken for?" I asked. He looks at me confused and says "What gave you the impression I was spoken for?" he asked, intrigued. "I have my sources. Now, if you'll excuse me, I really should be going." I say, walking away and this time he lets me.

Monday rolls around and Mariah is in her office when Cornell and Shades walk in. "Good morning Mr Stokes. Ms Dillard is expecting you." I say. "Good morning Ana." he says before walking in. "You look lovely today Ana." Shades says softly before walking into Mariah's office and I start to blush. I really shouldn't be responding this way when he's with Mariah. I don't know what's wrong with me. A little later they come out and I see Mariah touch Shades' hand as he walks out and he looks at me and smirks. "Have a good day Mr Stokes." I say. "You too Ana." Cornell says. "Goodbye Ana." Shades says and I just simply nod and get back to work.

That evening, after Mariah as left for the day, I head out myself. Walking out of the building, I see Shades standing there against the wall. As I walk by, I try to ignore him but he walks up beside me and starts talking. "Walking again I see." he says. I don't say anything. "Not talking to me now?" he asked. I stop walking and he stops too. "I was asked to stay away from you so that's what I am trying to do. Please respect that." I say as I start to walk away. He gently grabs my elbow, stopping me. "Who asked you to stay away from me?" he asked. "The same one that said you are spoken for. But yet you still seem intent on talking to me." I say and he smirks. "Well, for the record, I am most certainly not spoken for. And second, you intrigue me." he says. "I don't see how. But, still, I said I would stay away from you and I mean to keep my word. You have a good evening." I tell him walking off.

Walking into my apartment, I close and lock the door. Sitting on my couch, I take off my heels and pour a glass of wine and stare out the window. All I can think about is Shades. Why would Mariah tell me that he was spoken for if she's not with him? I can tell she wants to be. That has to be it. Well, I said I would stay away from him and that's what I'll do. I know how Mariah works. If she sees me as a threat, I'll lose my job and I can't afford to lose this job right now. I just hope that he respects my wishes and leaves me alone. Even if they are Mariah's wishes and not mine.

The next morning, I hand Mariah her coffee as she walks in the door, once I take her coat. "What's my schedule look like today?" she asked. "You have that meet and greet at the park today." I tell her. "I forgot about that." she tells me. "I arranged for a change of clothing for you to be a little more comfortable to be delivered after you left last night." I tell her. "Wonderful. Thank you Ana." she tells me and I nod before going back to my desk. The rest of the day goes by and I've not seen Shades. I head out for the night and he's not waiting for me like he has been these last few nights. Maybe he's respecting what I asked of him. Getting to my apartment, I see he isn't. Looking at the beautiful bouquet of flowers sitting in front of my door, I unlock my door and pick them up and carry them inside. Locking the door, I carry them to the kitchen island and look at the card. I sigh when I read what it says. _Beautiful flowers for an even more beautiful woman. Shades._ It reads. I sigh again and put the flowers in water.

The next morning, I walk out of my apartment and see a car waiting. Thinking it's for someone else, I see Shades get out of the backseat. "Want a ride?" he asked, walking over to me. "I'm fine. Thank you. And thank you for the flowers but Shades, please…" I start. "I'm not leaving you alone." he tells me. "Look, it's clear that Ms Dillard is enamoured by you. She's asked me to stay away from you and for the sake of my job, I am trying. Please respect what I'm asking." I say. "Let me worry about Mariah. Something about you, has me wanting more." he says. "I can't. I'm sorry." I say as I walk away.

Getting to the office, Mariah walks in. We go over the schedule for the day and I am my normal polite and professional self, or so I thought. "Are you okay Ana?" Mariah asked. "Yes ma'am. Never better." I say as I hand her the notes for her next meeting. "Anything else Ms Dillard?" I asked. "No. That's all for now, Ana." she says. I nod and excuse myself back to my desk. Cornell and Shades walk in and I greet him like I always do. "Hello Mr Stokes. Ms Dillard is waiting for you." I say. "Thank you Ana." he says and heads into her office. Shades looks at me before he walks in and I nod before turning back to my work.

That night, I get to my apartment and Shades is standing outside my door, waiting. "Can we talk?" Shades says. "Shades, please." I say. "I'm not leaving until we talk." He says. Sighing, I unlock the door and let him into my apartment. Shutting the door but leaving it unlocked, I walk over to the kitchen island and ask "Would you like a beer?" He smiles and says "Yeah. Thanks." I hand him his beer and ask "What do you want to talk about?" as I sit down at the island with my glass of wine. He sits down across from me and says "I get it." I look up at him and he continues. "You keeping your distance because of your job." he tells me. "Not just my job. The connections that Ms Dillard has, she could make sure that I never find work in this town again. She's clearly interested in you. Why are you wasting your time with me? She has more connections and more power in Harlem than I do. I'm just an assistant." I say. "You think that's all I'm after? Power?" he asked calmly. I look back down at my glass of wine. "That right there. The way you carry yourself. You're beautiful and you have no clue." he says. I shake my head. "I think it's time to go." I say. "Okay." he says. I walk him to the door and he says "Just think about it. Please?" he asked. He kisses my cheek and says "I'll see you soon." before walking down the hall. I walk back into my apartment and close the door, locking it. Sitting down on the couch, I feel the tears start to fall. Finally someone interested in me and I can't have anything to do with him.

The next morning, it's Friday. I head to the office and start getting work done. Mariah is out of the office all day and so she's calling to check in. When it's time to leave, I walk out of the building and see Shades standing there leaned against an SUV. "Have dinner with me." he says. I look at him for a minute before he walks over and says "One dinner. If I can't convince you to see me again by the end of dinner and dessert, I'll leave you alone. You have my word." he says. I think about it for a minute. "One dinner. Under one condition." I say. Smirking he asks "What's that?" I smirk and say "You have to tell me your real name." His smirk drops and he pulls me closer and whispers in my ear, "Hernan Alvarez." I lean back to look at him and say "Where to?" He smiles and leads me to the car with his hand on the small of my back.

We pull up to this Italian restaurant that I have been dying to try and walk in. "Reservations for Alvarez." he says. I look at him and he says "I wasn't giving up." I shake my head, smile still on my face. We are lead to a table in the back where it's quiet and a little more private. After the waiter takes our orders, he starts talking. "So, tell me a little more about you, Ana." he says. "My real name is Anastasia but only my mother calls me that. My last name is Hastings. I'm originally from Georgia but moved here after college." I tell him. "What did you study?" he asked. "It was a school for the arts. Music." I say. "You play?" he asked. "No. I sing. Went on a full paid scholarship." I tell him. "Impressive." he says. "What about you? What are you willing to tell me about you?" I asked. He looked at me impressed at the way I worded the question. Knowing that look I say "Men like you, only let people see what they want them to see. What do you want me to see?" I asked. He tells me "I grew up here in Harlem. Went away for awhile and once I came back, was offered a job with a prominent player in Harlem, met a beautiful woman who for that for the life of me I can't seem to get to give me an honest chance." he says and I blush. "Why are you so interested in me?" I asked. "Because you are the first woman that I have seen that their first action wasn't to try to get with me. You actually turned me down because of your loyalty to Mariah." he says. "My loyalty when it came to you wasn't about my loyalty to her, it was my loyalty to being able to pay my bills." I tell him and we laugh a little.

After dinner and dessert, we head to my apartment. He walks me to my door and asks "Well, what's the verdict Princess?" he asked. "I need my job, Shades but at the same time, I enjoyed spending time with you tonight." I tell him. "How about this? We take it a day at a time. Don't let on that we are talking and just see what happens. If Mariah finds out, I'll handle her and if not, I'll make sure you have a better job waiting." he says. I look at him for a minute, thinking. He makes me feel things I never have before. I nod and he smiles. Leaning down, he kisses my lips softly and says "I'll call you tomorrow Princess. Have a good night." as his lips are still close to mine. "Good night Hernan." I whisper and he kisses my lips again and then he's gone.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The next morning I wake up to the sun shining through my windows. Stretching, I smile to myself thinking about the night before. Dinner, dessert, conversation and that kiss. It was so soft and so sweet. Sitting up, I grab my phone off the charger and head to the kitchen in search of coffee. Pouring a cup, I walk over to the couch, sit down and start staring out the window. My phone starts to ring. Looking down I see a number I don't recognize but still answer. "Hello?" I asked as I answer. "Good morning Princess." I hear Shades say. "Good morning Handsome." I say. "How did you sleep?" He asked. "Really good actually. You?" I asked. "Better than I have in a while." he says. "How'd you get my number?" I asked. "I have my sources." he says using my own words back at me. "Fair enough." I say. "What are your plans for today?" he asked. "Normally I sit around the house and binge watch Netflix and camp out on the couch. Why?" I asked. "Thought I'd come see my Princess." he says. Smiling I say "Can you be here in an hour?" I asked. "See you in an hour Princess." he says. "I'll order food." I say before we end the call.

An hour later, I am showered and dressed in a pair of shorts and tank top with my long brown hair pulled into a ponytail. The food had just arrived when there's a knock on my door. Looking through the peephole, I see Shades. Opening the door, he walks in with a smile on his face. Kissing my cheek he says "Hey Princess." I blush a little and say "Hey." I shut the door and lock it out of habit and he takes off his coat and we head over to the couch. Sitting down, he sits beside me and looks at the food and smiles. "Chinese?" he asked. "Yeah. Saturday tradition." I tell him. Pulling up Netflix, we decide on a movie and sit back. Once we finish eating, he pulls me into his side and we watch the movie in silence.

After the movie, we turn another on just for background noise. "So, how did you come to work for Mariah if you majored in music?" he asked as we were talking. "I have my associates degree in business administration." I say. "Wow. Impressive. What made you go into music?" he asked. "It's stupid." I say, looking down at my hands playing with his hand while his other arm is still wrapped around me. "If it's important to you, it's not stupid." he says. I smile a little and say "When I was growing up, I had this dream of being a singer. Not like rock star type singer but like a lounge singer." I say. Tilting my head up, he says "I'd love to hear you sometime." he says. I blush and bury my face in his chest.

Another movie later, we are barely paying attention to the movie. I'm looking up at him while he caresses my face with his fingertips softly. Neither of us say anything, just enjoying the closeness. He leans down and kisses me softly and for the first time, I let him deepen the kiss. He doesn't try to push me farther, just enjoying kissing me. When our lip separate he says "You're mine Princess." I smile softly and say "You're mine my Prince." He smiles and kisses me softly. Laying my head back on his chest, I say "We probably shouldn't put our real names on the contacts on our phones. Just incase until we see where this goes." I say. "Agreed." he says. Picking up his phone, he changes my name to "My Princess." Smiling, I change his to "My Prince." He kisses me softly before we sit back and talk a little more. Later that night, we decide to call it a night. Walking him to his door, he kisses me softly and says "Good night Princess. I'll see you soon." Smiling against his lips I say "Good night Hernan. Be safe." knowing that if he's involved with Cornell, it's going to get dangerous. Kissing me one more time before seeing himself out. Locking the door behind him, I head to my bedroom and strip down to my panties and a shirt.

The next morning, I wake up to a text from Shades. _Good morning my beautiful Princess. Hope you slept well._ I smile and text him back. _Good morning my Prince. Slept wonderfully. You?_ I say. _Would have slept better if you were next to me._ I look at that text and after a couple of minutes, I text _Maybe someday...soon._ I say and smile.

I get up and go about my normal Sunday routine when there's a knock on my door. Looking through the peephole, I see a man standing there in a black suit. "Who is it?" I asked. "Was told to deliver this to you with instructions to not open the door until I'm gone." he says. Placing the gift on the floor in front of my door, he leaves. I give him a minute to get in the elevator before I open the door. Seeing a beautifully wrapped gift, I pick it up and walk back inside, closing and locking my door. Walking over to the couch, I sit down and look at the box. There's a note. _Just a little something to show you that I'm thinking about you. Xoxo Your Prince._ I smile looking at the note. Opening the box, I see a beautiful gold necklace with a simple music note pendant. I look at it shocked. He actually listened when I spoke. Wow. Picking up my phone, I send him a text knowing he's handling business today. _Thank you for my gift. It's beautiful and perfect._ I text. A couple of minutes later, my phone chimes with a text _Glad you like it my Princess. It's still not as beautiful as you._ I couldn't help the smile that seemed to stay on my face.

Monday morning rolls around and I head out the door for work. There's an SUV waiting for me with the man that dropped off the gift. "Ms Hastings. I've been instructed to make sure you make it to work safely." he says. Nodding, knowing Hernan sent him, I get into the backseat and he closes the door. Dropping me off in front of the building where I work, I am the first one there other than the guard. Getting out of the car, the man says "I'll be here at six to pick you up." I nod and say "Thank you." I walk into the building and to the office.

I fix my coffee and have it on my desk and have Mariah's in my hand when she walks in the door. "Good morning Ms Dillard." I greet her like I always do. "Good morning Ana. How was your weekend?" she asked. "Relaxing. How was yours?" I asked. "Same." she says smiling. She takes her coffee from me and I follow her into her office to go over the day's schedule. A little later, Cornell walks in with Hernan in tow. "Good morning Mr Stokes. Ms Dillard is in her office." I say. "Thank you Ana." he says and really looks at me. "You look lovely today Ana." he says. "Thank you Mr Stokes." I say simply before he walks into Mariah's office. Hernan looks at Cornell's back as his jaw clenches. He looks at me and nods before walking in behind him. A little bit later, Cornell and Hernan walk out of Mariah's office and I hand Cornell his coat. "Thank you Ana." he says and I nod. I see Mariah take Hernan's hand and kiss his lips softly. He doesn't stop her and doesn't look at me as he leaves. I finish out the rest of the day and when I go to leave, I see the same man standing outside of the same SUV waiting for me. He opens the door and I say "I think I'll walk." I tell him. "Mr Alvarez was adimate that I make sure you make it home safely." he says. Sighing, I get into the backseat and let him take me home. Once inside my apartment, I lock the door and head to my bedroom. Taking off my necklace that Hernan gave me, I strip down and get into the shower. Once out, I put my necklace back on and sit on the bed and turn on Netflix.

Halfway through the movie I'm watching, I can't stop thinking about Mariah kissing him and him doing nothing about it. I take the necklace off and put it back in the box it came in. When his driver gets here in the morning, I'll have him take it back to him. I feel the tears start to fall. I knew I couldn't compete with Mariah. I was foolish to think that I could. My phone goes off and I look and see it's Hernan calling. I don't answer, letting it go to voicemail. I don't listen to the message. A few minutes later, my phone rings again. Hernan again. I let it go to voicemail again. It rings a third time and I let it go to voicemail again when I see it's him again. Then it stops.

Twenty minutes later, there's a knock on my door. Looking out the peephole, I see it's Hernan. I go to walk away and I hear him say "I know you're in there Princess. Please open up." I quickly wipe the tears away and crack the door open and say "Now's not a good time. I'll call you later." I try to close the door but he stops me. "What's wrong?" He asked, concerned. "Nothing. I'll call you." I say and try to close the door again but he pushes his way in. I still won't look at him. He walks over to me and tilts my head up and sees that I've been crying. "What's wrong Princess?" he asked, pulling me to him. I pull away and say "I'm fine." I move towards the door and say "I'll call you later." He grabs my hand gently and says "Talk to me Princess." I shake my head and walk to the counter and take the box. Handing it to him, I say "I can't do this." He looks at me shocked and asks "Why not?" I don't look at him. "I can't compete with Ms Dillard. I saw her kiss you in the office and you did nothing to stop her. I can't watch that knowing you're just going to go to her." I say and try to walk away. "I'm not going to her. I'm sorry that happened Princess and I won't let it happen again. I'm yours and only yours." he tells me. Taking the necklace back out of the box, he walks over to me and puts the necklace back around my neck and fastens it back. Turning me to face him he says "I'm yours Princess. Only yours." before kissing me softly. Taking my hand, he walks me to the couch and sits down, pulling me into his lap. "I don't want anyone but you." he tells me. I look into his eyes and see all I need to know. "I'm sorry. I just couldn't handle seeing her kiss you after our weekend together." I say. "I know baby. I want to talk to you about something." he says. "Okay." I say. "I know you're worried about her knowing about us because of your job. What if I said I had a proposition for you?" he asked. "What's that?" I ask.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"What proposition?" I asked. "I know you said if Mariah found out, she would fire you. But what if I said I could find you a better job?" he asked. "How are you going to do that?" I asked. "Have you ever heard the name Diamondback?" he asked. I nod my head yes. "That's was my boss." he says. "Was?" I asked. "Yeah. I took over his business. He's no longer running things. I have a plan to run Cottonmouth and Mariah out of their metaphorical thrones." he says. I move off his lap and sit next to him. "How?" I asked. "Everyone thinks that Diamondback is running things. Diamondback was cheating my crew so I took him out. I have a plan to put Mariah and Cottonmouth against each other and let them take each other out." he tells me. "Where do I fit in?" I asked. "Saturday night, I will be at Harlem's Paradise and I want you on my arm. We'll spend the day here like we did before but that night, I want you by my side. I want you beside me when I take over Harlem." he tells me. "Hernan, I have to work. I have bills." I tell him. "Move in with me. We'll run Harlem together. I've heard how you speak to people. You have a good head for business and you're smart as hell. Once we take it over, I want you to run Harlem's Paradise. Someone with a degree in music management would be perfect to run a place like HP." he tells me. "Are you sure, Hernan? We just got together?" I asked. "I'm sure. I told you, you're mine and I'm yours. I meant it. Still do." he tells me. I look at him for a minute and say "Okay." I say. "Okay?" he asked. "Okay." I say. He pulls me to him and kisses me deeply. "I love you Princess." he says. "I love you too Hernan."

That night, we are packing up my belongings to get moved to Hernan's house. Lying down in bed, I hold the covers back as he strips down to his boxer briefs. Looking at him, I can see how muscular he is. He gets into bed and pulls me to him. Kissing him deeply, I whisper "Make love to me Hernan." He kisses me again and starts kissing down my neck as we both shed clothes. He slowly enters me and thrusts in and out at a slow and steady pace. He whispers in my ear "I love you Anastasia." I kiss him and whisper against his lips, "I love you more Hernan." After we both reach our release, I turn with my back to him and he pulls me as close as he can get me and I fall into a blissful sleep knowing that tomorrow, I will be living with my Prince.

The next morning, I wake up and start getting ready for work. As I am finishing my hair, I see Hernan standing in the door of the bathroom. "Leave me your keys. I'll have your things moved to our place and we can unpack it when you get home." he says. Smiling, I say "Okay baby." I finish my hair and head to the kitchen when there was a knock on the door. "Ready to go Ms Hastings?" the driver asks. I look at Hernan and he says "I have to make sure my Princess is safe. Have a good day. I will probably be there with Cottonmouth later but I promise not to let what we talked about happen again." he says. I walk over and kiss him softly. "I love you my Queen." he says. Smiling I say "I love you my King." before walking out the door.

Walking outside, I get into the SUV and head to work. Once I get to the office, the door opens and I step out. "I'll be here at six Ms Hastings." he says. "Thank you." I say before walking into the office. I go through my morning routine when Mariah comes in. "Good morning Ms Dillard." I say. "Good morning Ana. What's my schedule look like?" she asked. "No appointments today." I tell her. "Good. My cousin will be by shortly. Please see him in when he gets here." she tells me. "Yes ma'am." I tell her before heading to my desk to get to work.

A couple of hours later, Cornell walks in with Hernan behind him. "Good morning Mr Stokes. Ms Dillard is waiting for you." I tell him. "Thank you Ana." he says before heading for the door. Hernan follows him in and as he closes the door, he smirks at me. I go back to my desk and get to work. An hour later, they exit the office and Mariah goes to grab Hernan's hand but he pulls away. She looks at him shocked and he says "I'm spoken for." before walking away and leaving her standing there speechless.

That evening, Mariah is gone and I am leaving the office. It's Friday evening and the SUV is waiting for me. Quinton is standing there waiting on me. "How was your day?" he asked. "Good. How was yours?" I ask as he helps me into the backseat. "Uneventful." he tells me and I nod. Closing the door, he gets into the driver's seat. "Shades had your things moved to his place earlier. Shall we head there now?" he asked. "Yes please." I tell him. "Heading home ma'am." he says smiling.

Pulling up to a nice, two story house, not quite a mansion but not far from it, Quinton opens the back door for me and helps me out. Walking me to the front door, he opens it for me and ushers me inside. Looking up, I see Hernan standing there in a pair of sweats and a v-neck shirt, barefoot. He walks over and says "Let's get you comfortable." I kiss him softly and say "Yeah, lets." We head to the bedroom after Quinton sees himself out. "I went ahead and unpacked everything. If you want something moved, let me know. I want you to be happy here." he says. "I look around and say "It's perfect." Once I'm showered and changed into my sleep shorts and tank top, we head to the kitchen. "You hungry?" He asked. "I'm okay." I say, pulling him to me. He wraps his arms around me and says "Welcome home my Queen." I kiss him softly and say "Glad to be home my King."

The next day, we are sitting on the couch, eating Chinese and watching Netflix, snuggled up on the couch and just spending the day together. That afternoon, there's a knock on the door. I look at Hernan and he just smirks. He answers the door and in walks three women. "Hernan, what's going on?" I asked. "These lovely ladies are going to help you get ready for tonight. I told you I want you on my arm." he says. "You know this means I won't have a job right?" I asked. "Then I guess you will have to take me up on my offer." he says before kissing me. "Go get ready." he says.

An hour later, I am ready to walk out the door. The dress is form fitting, mid calf length, v-neckline and an open back. My hair cascades down my back in soft waves and my makeup is delicately done. He stops in his tracks when he sees me. "Wow. You look amazing." he says as he kisses my cheek. "Thank you." I say looking up at him. "Ready to take over the world?" he asked. "Let's do this." I say.

Walking into Harlem's Paradise, I am on Hernan's arm. He leads me up the stairs to the VIP suite where Mariah and Cornell are sitting, enjoying the music. Walking into the suite, both cousins look over at us. Cornell has an amused look on his face while Mariah is glaring at me. She quickly recovers and walks over. Kissing my cheek she says "Ana, my dear, you look absolutely stunning." I smile softly and say "Thank you Ms Dillard. You look fabulous yourself." I tell her. Cornell walks over and says "Mariah is right. You look stunning." He takes my hand that isn't on Hernan's arm and kisses my knuckles. Hernan leads me over to one of the chairs and kisses me softly before I sit in the chair. He walks over to the railing but staying turned where he can see me when Mariah walks over and takes the chair next to me. "I thought I told you he was spoken for?" she says softly where the men can't hear us. "You did. But, you see, he says different and as you can see, it was me that came in on his arm." I say, not caring that I won't have a job after this. "You will leave him alone or you won't have a job come Monday morning." she tells me. "Oh, I didn't tell you? I resign. My resignation letter is already on your desk." I tell her and she looks at me shocked. I see Cornell and Hernan finishing their conversation when Hernan walks over to me. "Let's go enjoy the music and have a few drinks." he says. "I'd love that." I say. He holds out his hand and I take it, standing. He places his hand at the small of my back and as we head out, Cornell says "It was lovely seeing you again Ana." I smile softly and say "Likewise Mr Stokes." I say. "Call me Cornell." he says and I nod before Hernan leads me out to the bar area.

Walking up to the bar, I take a bar stool as he stands next to me. We order our drinks and he whispers "You handled that perfectly." I look at him and see nothing but love and pride on his face. I kiss him softly and say "After this drink, take me home my King." Smirking he says "Anything for my Queen."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

After we finish our drinks, we walk outside and Quinton is there with the car. Getting inside, Hernan comes in behind me. "Did you take care of that errand for me Quinton?" I asked. "Yes ma'am, I did." he tells me. "Thank you." I say. Hernan looks at me and asks "What errand?" Taking his hand and lacing our fingers together, I tell him "He was delivering my resignation letter to Mariah's desk." Hernan kisses my hand and smiles. "What did she say to you when she sat next to you?" he asked. "She was telling me how she told me you were spoken for and I just reminded her that even though she said that, it was still me walking in on your arm. She told me that if I didn't leave you alone that I wouldn't have a job so I just told her that my resignation letter was already on her desk. Thanks to Quinton, of course." I tell him. I lean against his shoulder and he kisses the top of my head.

Once we get home, I change out of my dress and take off my makeup before getting into bed. Lying with my head on Hernan's bare chest, I just lay there thinking about things. "What's on your mind?" he asked. "Just thinking." I say. "About?" he asked. I sit up and say, "I think I might know how to pit Mariah and Cornell against each other." I say. Sitting up against the headboard, he asks "How?" Looking up at him, I say "Cornell gets most of his funding from Mariah, correct?" I asked. "Yeah." he says. "Well, I know for a fact that when she gives him money, she has to shift budgets around and work the money around so that no one knows she's laundering money. What if we were to convince him that siding with Diamondback, or us, that we would be able to give him access to larger amounts of money, faster than Mariah can. Convince him that if he sides with Diamondback that Harlem would see him as a more prominent player because of having more instant access to more funds than working with Mariah. Plus that it would keep her safe from putting her career in danger." I explain. "That's actually not a bad idea. We have the funds to back him. But how are we going to get him to listen to us without Mariah there?" he asked. "I'll ask him to dinner." I say. "No." he says. "I won't go alone. I'll make sure I have Quinton with me at all times. He won't suspect anything if I tell him that Diamondback gave me a better offer and that I am working for him now." I tell him. He thinks about it for a second and I move to straddle him. "Baby, this is our best bet. I've seen how he looks at me. Let me play on that." I tell him. "You take Quinton with you and the first time he gets handsy, you come straight home and we figure something else out. Understand?" He asked. "Yes my King." I say before kissing him. He pulls back and looks at me. "So, how do we get Mariah against him?" he asked. 'Mariah thrives off her ego. She has to feel like she's needed. Like she's the one pulling his strings. If she sees him siding with us, she will start trying to convince him that I am only working for Diamondback to get revenge on her for trying to keep me away from you. I can convince him that Diamondback just simply presented a better offer than what Mariah was and that it has nothing to do with revenge but that it was strictly a business decision, he will be quick to tell her she's crazy and one thing that a woman hates, is to be told she's crazy." I tell him. "You really thought this out didn't you?" He asked. Kissing him I say "That I did."

The next morning, we get up and have breakfast. Drinking coffee, he takes my hand and says "I want to show you something." I follow him, coffee still in hand. He opens the door to a room I haven't ventured into yet to see that it's softly decorated and set up as an office. I look at Hernan and he says "My office is next door. This way, you have somewhere to work." he tells me. I look at him and kiss him softly. "Thank you baby." I say. "We are going to have those thrones real soon my Queen." he tells me. "That we are." I say. I walk over to the desk and see a picture in a frame of Hernan and I standing on the street talking. He's holding me close and looking into my eyes. It was when he picked me up for dinner. "How'd you get this picture?" I asked. "Quinton took it with his phone when we weren't looking. Had it printed for me. I have the same one on my desk." he says and I smile.

After we are dressed for the day, we sit at the kitchen island and Quinton is with us. "You called Boss?" he says as he comes into the kitchen. "Sit, we want to talk to you." Hernan says. He sits at the island and says "You know you're the only one that I trust my Queen with." he says and Quinton nods. "She's going to be calling and asking Cottonmouth out to dinner. I won't be there so that she can work her magic but I will need you to stay close." Hernan tells him. "Of course. What's the plan?" Quinton asks. We explain the plan and Quinton says "Well, word is that Cottonmouth is interested in Ms Hastings in more than for a professional relationship." I look at Hernan and see his jaw clench. I move to Hernan and cup his face in my hands and make him look at me. "You're my King. No one else. My King." I say before kissing him softly. He looks into my eyes and says "My Queen."

After working out the details, I head to my office while Hernan talks to Quinton. Walking to my desk, I make the first phone call from my desk. My first phone call in this new venture. Picking up the phone, I call Cornell's cell phone number that Quinton gave me. "Hello?" he asked as he answers the phone. "Good morning Cornell. It's Ana." I say. "Ana. How are you my dear?" he asked. "I'm well. Thank you. How are you?" I asked. "I'm good. To what do I owe the pleasure?" he asked. "I was wondering if you would like to go to dinner tonight? I have a business proposition for you." I say. "And what proposition would that be?" he asked. "I guess you'll just have to meet me for dinner to find out." I say. "I'll text you with arrangements." he says. "No need. I have reservations at Bella's for 8pm. Private table in the back. Reservation listed under Hastings." I tell him. "Prepared I see." he says. "Always." I say before ending the call. I look up and see Hernan standing at my office door. He walks over to me and pulls me to stand. "That was amazing baby." he says. Kissing me softly, I say "We have a while before I have to get ready." He picks me up and carries me to the couch in my office.

Laying me down, he kisses me softly and I let him deepen the kiss. He kisses down my neck as we start shedding clothes. He enters me slowly and thrusts in and out at a slow and steady pace. "Hernan, faster baby. That feels so good." I whisper as he speeds up his pace. "Fuck baby. I can't get enough. You're perfect." he says as he thrusts in and out. I reach my release with him reaching his right behind me. He looks me in the eyes and says "I love you." Smiling softly, I say "I love you too Hernan."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Quinton and I walk into the restaurant ten minutes before 8pm. The hostess leads us to our table and I say "We'll have one more joining us." She nods before walking back to the door. "Are you ready Ms Hastings?" Quinton asks. "Yes. But stay close. I don't trust him. Without Shades here, there's no telling what he'll try." I tell him. "I'm right behind you." he tells me.

A few minutes later, we see the hostess leading Cornell over to our table. I stand to greet him. He kisses my cheek. "You look lovely, Ana." Cornell says as he sits across from me while Quinton holds my chair. "Thank you, Cornell." I say. We order our food and Cornell says "I see Shades sent security." Smiling I say "I don't go anywhere without my shadow." He takes a bite of his food and asks "So, what's this proposition you wanted to talk to me about?" Looking at Cornell, I say "I know that your biggest contributor to your cause is your cousin. I want to make you an offer that I feel you might find beneficial to your future." I say. "I'm listening." he says. "I know that for Mariah to financially offer her services to you and still keep her reputation in tact, she has to jump through certain channels to make the funds available and that takes time. However, my benefactor, can not only offer instant funds but at much larger amounts which, in turn, makes you look like an even more prominent player than you already are. Now, if you have more instant funds at your disposal, that means you have the ability to increase your business. That, in turn, increases your power in Harlem." I propose. He looks at me for a minute and asks "Who is this benefactor?" Looking at him so that I can gauge his reaction, I say "Diamondback." His eyebrows raise ever so slightly. "How did you get set up with Diamondback? He asked. "He presented me with an offer that was much better than what I would have ever gotten working for Mariah." I say. "So this move has nothing to do with Mariah telling you to stay away from Shades?" he asked, smirking. Looking him dead in the eyes I say "No. It has nothing to do with that. But another reason that I am bringing this to you, is that it also protects Mariah. It takes the pressure off of her of having to worry about getting caught. This helps you take even more control over Harlem and protects your family at the same time." I tell him. "Will you be my person of contact?" he asks. "If that will help make this transition more beneficial for you then, yes." I say. "Set it up." he says. "I'll let Diamondback know. You just met me know what you need and when you need it." I say. "I will indeed." he says.

We finish dinner and it's time to go. Quinton pulls out my chair for me to stand and Cornell stands to leave as well. Quinton is carrying my coat and once we get to the door, Cornell goes to reach for my coat but Quinton is faster and starts helping me into my coat. Quinton puts his hand on the small of my back to lead me outside to the waiting car. Before getting into the car, I turn to Cornell and say "It's been a pleasure doing business with you Cornell. I hope to hear from you soon." He kisses my cheek and says "I most certainly will be calling you." Quinton helps me into the car, and we head home. "You did great Ms Hastings." Quinton says. "Thanks Quinton for having my back." I say to him.

We pull up at home and he helps me out and escorts me into the house. Once inside, Hernan comes into the living room. I sit on the couch and start taking off my shoes. "How'd it go?" Hernan asked. Quinton speaks up and says "Your girl is a natural." Looking at me, I smile softly before I get up and walk over to Hernan. Standing in front of him I say "He bought it hook, line and sinker." Hernan picks me up and kisses me hard. "You are amazing." he says. "Only one catch. He wants me to be his point of contact." I say. "That's fine but you don't meet with him without me or Quinton with you." he says sternly but I know it's for my protection. "I wouldn't have it any other way my King." Quinton says his goodnight and next thing I know, Hernan picks me up over his shoulder and carries me to our bed before we worship each other all night.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

It has been a week and I am sitting in my office, working on a plan for taking Mariah down, when my office phone rings. "Ana Hastings." I say as I answer. "Good morning Ana." he says. "Hello Cornell. What can I do for you?" I asked as I pick up my cell phone and text Hernan. A minute later, Hernan walks in and sits in the chair across from me. "I had a meeting with an associate and he's offered me some product." he says. "How much do you need?" I asked. "Five hundred grand." he says. "Meet me in an hour. I'll text you the address." I tell him. "I'll see you then my dear Ana." he says before ending the call. "How much does he need?" he asked. "Half a mil." I tell him. I pick up my phone and call Bruno and say "Half a mil. Half an hour." he says into the phone before ending the call. Thirty minutes later we are on the way to meet Cornell.

Pulling up to the address, Quinton helps me out of the car, with Hernan getting out behind me. Walking up, Quinton carries the bag and I step forward with both of them behind me. "Hello Cornell." I say. "Hello Ana. Lovely as usual." he says as he glances back at Hernan. "I see you brought your security." he says. "Don't you always bring protection? Shades just wants to keep me safe." I say. "I would too if you were mine." he says. "Well, you asked for half a million?" I say as Quinton steps forward, handing Cornell's guy the bag. "It's all there." I say. "How does this benefit Diamondback?" Cornell asks. "With you ruling Harlem, Diamondback has the social backing he needs to move on to other areas." I tell him. "I see. Well, thank you Ana, for your assistance. I'll be in touch." he tells me. "Of course. Have a good day Cornell." I say. I don't move until Cornell is in his car and gone.

Once Cornell's car pulls away, Hernan comes up and puts his arm around my waist. "You did great babe." he says. "Let's go home." I say. He leads me back to the car and we head home. Walking into the house, Hernan and I head to the living room with Quinton and Bruno in tow. "Can you spare Bruno?" I ask Hernan. "I can. Why?" he asks. "I need someone that we trust to tail Mariah." I say. Looking at Bruno, I say "I need someone to keep an eye on her. We need to know when she starts losing her cool." I say. "What are you thinking babe?" Hernan asks. "The minute she starts losing her cool, that's when we need to start messing with her. Once she starts to lose it and feeling that pressure, word will slip that she's funding Cornell's illegal escapades." I say. "What about what you gave him today?" Quinton asks. "That money? That money came from her office." I say and they look at me confused and I look at Bruno. They look at Bruno and he smirks. "You had him take the money from her office?" Hernan asks. "No. Her safe in her other office. The one that she never uses. It's the one that she puts the money in that she gives Cornell." I tell him. "That's genius." Hernan says and I see that look of pride in his eyes again. "That money won't be traced to us. Only her." I tell them. Hernan walks over to me and pulls me close and says "You truly are my Queen." Smiling I say "Anything to protect my King."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

After Quinton and Bruno leave, Hernan takes my hand and leads me to bed. Lying down in bed, my head is on his chest, he says "I love you Ana." I look up at him and say "I love you too." I see a look of worry in his eyes. Sitting up, I ask, "What's wrong?" He kisses me softly and asks "Are you happy with me?" I look at him confused and say "Of course I am. Are you not happy?" I ask. "I am." he says. "But." I say. "But I have an idea to bring get Mariah against Cottonmouth but you're not going to like it." he tells me. "What are you thinking?" I ask, at least willing to hear him out since he heard me out about Cornell. "We both know that she has her eyes on me. What if I played into that like you did Cornell." he says. "How?" I ask. "Letting her think we are only working together but that she's the one that I want. Then she puts more of her trust in me and we can play her any way we want." He says. I look at him and see what looks like guilt in his eyes. Pulling away from him I ask "What did you do?" He looks away from me and I get off the bed.

I walk out of the room and he follows me. Getting to my office, I shut the door. I don't want to hear what he did behind my back. He opens the door and says "All I did was meet with her. I just hinted that we were just a business arrangement and that I needed someone with real power by my side." he tells me. "Yeah and she took full advantage of having her hands all over you didn't she?" I ask. "Ana." he says. "Really Shades? Fine. This is just a business arrangement." I say before going to the bedroom and changing into a pair of jeans and a sweater. Grabbing my coat, I go to head out the door and he asks "Where are you going?" I don't look at him, I just say "I need to clear my head." He grabs my hand and says "Take Quinton with you. "That defeats the purpose of being alone doesn't it. Don't worry. Your business associate will be fine. You better call Mariah. I'm sure she misses you." I say before pulling away from him and walking out the door.

I walk down the street and see someone following me. I look and see that it's Quinton. "Shades send you?" I ask. "He just wants you safe." he tells me. "Well, I'm not his to worry about anymore. Head back." I tell him before walking away. "I can't do that Ms Hastings." he says. "Seriously? Fine. I'm going to be walking for a while." I say. I walk a little while and walk into a hotel. "Let me take you home." Quinton says. "I'm getting a room here. You won't tell him where I am. I just need time to think." I tell him. "I'll let him know you're safe." he tells me.

I am in my hotel room for about an hour when there's a knock at the door. Looking through the peephole, I see Hernan standing there. "Please open the door baby." he says. I open the door and say "The whole point of getting this room is to get space from you." I tell him. "We need to talk." I say. "Nothing to talk about." I say as I try to close the door but he pushes his way in. "We do need to talk." he says. "Fine. How did you convince her that we weren't together?" I ask. "Ana…" he starts. "Holy shit. Please tell me you didn't sleep with her." I say. "No. Hell no. I wouldn't do that to you." he says. "Did you kiss her?" I ask and he looks down at his feet. "Get out." I say softly. "Ana…" he starts but I stop him. "Don't. I got Cornell on board without cheating on you but you couldn't help yourself. Just please leave." I say. "I love you." he says. "No you don't." I say. He walks out the door and I see Quinton standing guard. "Will you go to his house and get my things please?" I ask. "Ms Hastings, that's not a good idea." he says. "You can get them or I can get someone else to." I say. "Just give it the night and talk to him in the morning." Quinton says. I just look at him. "Do you trust me?" he asks. "Of course." I say. "Let's talk." he says and I let him into the room.

Sitting down at the table, he says "Mariah is in love with Shades. I was there with him when he met with her and he didn't kiss her. She kissed him. He didn't kiss back. He actually told her to slow down. He told her that he needed a strong woman by his side to rule Harlem with to get her interested. He loves you. I spoke to Bruno. When you left, he closed himself off. He's in love with you." he tells me. "What do I do Quinton?" I ask. "Go home. Talk to him. He can't keep his head in the game and reach the goals you two set if he's worried you hate him." he tells me. Sighing, I ask "Can you take me home?" Quinton nods. I get up and follow him out.

Walking into the house, Hernan walks into the foyer and sees me standing there. He doesn't move to touch me. "Hey." He says. "Can we talk?" I ask. He nods. We head into the living room and Quinton makes himself scarce. "Quinton explained what happened but Hernan, that's my biggest fear, that you'll go to her." I say. "Baby, I love you. Only you. It's just business with her." he says. "Yeah but I got Cornell on my side without him touching me. I cleared everything with you beforehand. But you did this behind my back because you knew I wouldn't go along with it. Shades, if this is going to work, you have to be honest with me." I tell him. "You called me Shades." he says. "Yeah. Until I figure this out, it's just business. I'll stay in the guest room." I say, getting up and walking away, leaving him sitting there.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

The next couple of days, I spend tossing and turning all night in the guest room and the days in my office alone. I'm looking at some of Cornell's finances that I was able to get ahold of when there's a knock at the door. I know who it is so I don't look up. "Yeah." I say simply. "Can we talk?" he asks. "Did you get anything useful out of Mariah?" I ask. "About us." he says. "There's no us. It's just business, remember? You get to rule Harlem and I go back to my life." I tell him flatly. "You're life is here." he tells me softly. Finally looking up at him, I see he's as miserable as I am but I can't let him know that. "This is just business, Shades. Now, did you get anything useful out of Mariah?" I ask. "Yeah. She apparently has another safe at her home that has money for Cornell in it. They were talking about using an apartment building that Cornell wants to buy as another way to launder money." he tells me. "Okay. I'll see what I can find out about the apartment deal. See if I can shut that deal down." I tell him. "Okay. Ana?" He asks. "Yeah." I say. He walks over and kneels in front of me. "I do love you and I am so sorry. I don't want to lose you." he tells me and I remember what Quinton said about his head being in the game. "I love you too Hernan. I'm just hurt. You leaving me for her is my biggest fear." I tell him. "I don't want you hating me and I don't want to lose you." he tells me. "I don't hate you baby and you won't lose me but I just need time to wrap my head around it." I tell him. "I won't let it get that far again." he tells me. "Okay." I say and lightly kiss his lips. "I love you my King." I say. "I love you so much more my Queen." he says.

After looking into the apartment deal, I see that it's my old apartment building. I call out for Hernan. "What's up babe?" he asks. "I found something. That apartment building they are talking about is my old building." I say. "Okay. So where do we go from here?" he asks. "What if we bought the building? That would throw them back a notch." I tell him. "What are you thinking?" he asks. "Look, the people in that building are struggling. Why do you think I lived there? What if Diamondback Industries bought it and maybe fixed it up a little and made it easier rent wise?" I ask. "Is that what you want to do baby?" he asks. "Those people there are my friends. We looked out for each other. It would be a good way to give back and earn their trust." I tell him. "Call the Landlord. If that's what my Queen wants. That's what my Queen gets." he says.

Two hours later, I walk into the manager's office and he greets me. "Ana. It's great to see you again. What do I owe this pleasure?" Mr Matthews asks. "I have a proposition for you. Well, my associate and I do." I tell him and motion to Hernan that takes the seat next to me. "I'm listening." he says. "I know that Cornell Stokes has made you an offer on the building." I tell him. "He has but something tells me you have a better offer." he says. "I do. This is Shades Alvarez. We represent Diamondback Industries. We'd like to buy the building." I tell him. "What do you have planned for this place?" he asks. "Fixing it up a little more. Fixing the things that need to be fixed and lowering the rent for the people that live here. It's Diamondback Industries' way of giving back. I simply explained how the people here struggle and it would be a show of good faith to make their lives easier." I tell him. "How much is he offering?" Mr Matthews asks. "What's Cornell offering you?" I ask. "Two hundred thousand." he says. I look to Hernan and he nods. "I can double that. Plus fix it up and make theirs lives easier." I tell him. "You have a deal Sweetheart." he says. "Hernan hands him the contract and he smiles at how prepared we are. He signs the paperwork and Hernan hands him the money in cash. "Thank you Mr Matthews." I say. "You were my best tennant. I hated seeing you go but at least it's going to someone that understands everyone. I'll call a meeting in an hour for you to tell everyone the good news." he tells me and I nod.

An hour later the entire building is standing in the day room. "Hello everyone. I know some of you remember me. I was in 12B. My name is Ana Hastings and I wanted to let you know that Diamondback Industries has just purchased this building." I tell them. I see some faces getting worried. "The reason that we have you all here is to let you know that the building is now under new ownership and in the coming days there will be some people here to check out the apartments to see what repairs need to be done so that we can make sure that your homes are working properly. Also, there will be a change in the rent. Each apartment will get a cut in the rent by $100 a month. Diamondback Industries wants to make sure that the residents of Harlem know that he has their back. They know how much this building and the people in it mean to me so they are doing what's needed to make your lives easier. If there is anything else we can do please just let us know." I tell them. They all look relieved and thank us as they walk out the door.

We head back to the car and once inside, I look at Hernan and say "Thank you." as I feel a tear roll down my cheek. "Anything for you baby. I love you so much." he says. That night, we head to bed and I feel a little better about things. I wake up still in Hernan's arms with my back to his front. I look at my hand and see a beautiful diamond ring on my left ring finger. I hear him in my ear "Marry me Anastasia." he says. I turn in his arms and ask "Are you sure?" He kisses me softly and says "Never more sure about anything in my life." I kiss him softly and whisper "Yes."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

I kiss Hernan softly before he hovers over me, deepening the kiss. "I love you Ana." he says. "I love you Hernan." He thrusts in and out of me slowly until we both reach our release. I look into his eyes and he says "Looks like you have a wedding to plan." I shake my head no and he looks at me confused. "I want to just go to the courthouse and get it done. We don't need this getting to Mariah or Cornell until we are ready for it to." I tell him and he nods. "We could go this morning." he says and smirks. "This morning it is." I say and kiss him again.

We get up and dressed and an hour later we are Mr and Mrs Hernan Alvarez. "Ana Alvarez. I like how that sounds." Hernan says. "Me too." We get back in the car and Quinton asks "Where to Mrs Alvarez?" I laugh and say "Home Quinton." Hernan kisses me and as soon as we get home, he carries me over the threshold and right up the stairs. "Time to claim my wife." he says. Putting me down on the bed, we slowly undress and he makes love to me nice and slow. Once we reach our release, he pulls me close and we just lay there. After a little while, I sit up and say "I wonder if Cornell has gotten word that we bought the building?" Hernan sits up and grabs his phone. Calling Bruno, he asks "Any update on Mariah and Cottonmouth?" He puts it on speaker so that I can hear. "Mariah went to Cottonmouth's office and I could hear them talking. She's pissed. Asking how they were going to handle the money now that the building was sold out from under them. Talking about how she can't get caught and if she goes down she's dragging him with her." he tells us. "Good. Their starting to crumble a little. That's good. Let me know if you hear of any other ideas. We'll swoop in under them." Hernan tells him. Bruno agrees and they end the call. "Looks like things are falling into place." Hernan's phone rings. He answers it and puts it on speaker. "Hello?" he answers. "Shades. It's Mariah. I need your help." she says. "With what?" he asks. "Can you meet me?" she asks. "Yeah. Where?" he asks. "My place. Hurry please." she almost begs.

We get up and get dressed. He walks into her house and into her parlor and I stay just out of sight. "Shades. I don't know what to do. He came over here talking about how I needed to get him more money and that the apartment deal fell through. You have to help me. I didn't mean to kill him." she says. "I'll help you." he tells her. I walk into view and say "We both will." She looks at me shocked and Mariah asks "What are you doing here?" I look at her and say "You didn't think I was letting my husband come in here alone did you?" She looks at me shocked. I walk over to her and see she's still in shock from killing Cornell. "I want you to listen to me very carefully. Shades is going to get his guys to come and help get rid of Cornell. You will come with me." I grab the trash bag that Hernan handed me and lead her to her bedroom. I put down a small rug from her bathroom and tell her. "Take everything off. Clothing, undergarments, even jewelry and hair accessories. Everything needs to be put in this bag, carefully. Once you redress, we will take the rug and put it in the bag too. Making sure there's no DNA left behind." I tell her. "Why are you helping me?" she asks. "Because from here out, you will do as Shades and I ask you to. As long as you do what we say, we will protect you. Understand?" I ask and she nods. I turn and she does what I told her to do and we head back into the parlor. The body is gone. I hand Bruno the bag and Hernan walks over to me. Looking at Mariah, he says, "From here out, you don't make a move unless we tell you to. If anyone asks if you've seen Cornell, tell them that you haven't seen him since he said he had a meeting in Brooklyn. That was last week. If they ask you anything else, your answer will be 'I honestly couldn't say." he tells her. "Okay." she says. "You don't do anything until you hear from me or my husband. Understand?" I ask and she nods. "Good. Get some rest Mariah. It's late and you have a long day at work tomorrow." I tell her before I walk out with Hernan with me.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

We walk into the house and I head to my office. Hernan follows me. "What are you thinking?" he asks. "There was something in the paperwork from Cornell's office that I was looking into." I tell him. He walks over and sits on the edge of my desk. "What's that?" he asks. "Remember the money that we gave Cornell? The money that Bruno took from her safe for me?" I ask. "I remember." he says. "I found out who he gave the money to." I say and he just listens. "Domingo Colon. He gave it to him to buy drugs. Looks like Cornell has been getting into another trade." I tell him. "How do you want to handle it?" he asks. "We have Mariah call him and set up a meet. She tells him that she wants to take over since Cornell is out of commission and then we set her up. Once we know where the meet is, she has the money and he has the drugs and they both go down. We keep those drugs out of Harlem and Mariah goes down." I tell him. "Let's go see her." he tells me.

Getting out of the car, we knock on the door. Mariah let's us in and I tell her, "I need you to make a phone call." I tell her and she nods. "Cornell was getting into drugs. Coke to be exact. You need to call Domingo Colon and tell him you would like to meet with a proposition. Let him know that Cornell is out of commission and you will be his point of contact for a while. He knows you are in business with Cornell so he won't be suspicious." I tell her. She picks up the phone and he answers on the first ring. "Hello Domingo. It's Mariah. How are you?" she asks. "Good. What do I owe this pleasure?" he asks her. "Cornell seems to be out of commission for a little while so he asked me to be his point of contact for you. He wants to make sure that you are taken care of while he's out." she tells him. "That's acceptable. Meet me at the docks and bring the same amount as last time." he tells her. "You bring what I need?" she asks. "It will be there." he tells her and they end the call. "You did good Mariah." I say. Bruno walks in with a bag just like last time. "This is five hundred thousand. Just like last time. When you meet, get the product and call me. I'll instruct you from there." I tell her and she nods.

An hour later, we are parked in the shadows, watching. We see Mariah get out of the car and Domingo get out of his. Standing there talking, he hands her a bag and she hands him the one we gave her. All of a sudden, the police swoop in and are arresting both Domingo and Mariah. Hernan kisses my knuckles and says "Quinton, take me and my Queen home." We head home and on the way, I call Bruno. "Can you keep an eye out to see if Mariah gets granted bail?" I ask. "Yes ma'am. I'll call as soon as I know something." he says and we end the call.

Walking into the house, I go to head into my office when Hernan grabs my hand. I turn to look at him and he says "Diamondback, Cottonmouth and Mariah are all out of commission. This calls for a celebration my Queen." I smile at him and say "That it does my King." Pulling me to him, he kisses me deeply before picking me up and walking me to the couch. Laying me down, he hovers over me and says "One step closer." Smiling, I kiss him softly. "I love you Hernan." I say. "I love you Anastasia." he says. He kisses me again before we shed clothes and he enters me. Thrusting in and out slowly, I say "Harder Hernan. Please baby." I almost beg. He starts thrusting hard and fast and I feel myself start to fall over the edge with him right behind me. Laying beside me, he pulls the cover from the back of the couch over us and we just lay there knowing everything is going according to plan.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Later that evening, we are snuggled on the couch and I decide I want to cook. Getting up, he asks "Where are you going?" I look at him and say "I want to cook." He shakes his head and says "You know, we could hire a cook." I look at him and say "I love to cook. We don't need a cook." He laughs. I head to the kitchen and get the pork chops that I took out of the freezer last night and started baking those as I start the mashed potatoes and corn. Once dinner is done, I call Hernan to the table and we sit to eat. After dinner, he helps me clean up the kitchen when he starts laughing. "What?" I ask. "We really are a married couple." he says. I walk over to him and cup his face. "We are a power couple when we are dealing with business but when it's just us, alone, we are an ordinary married couple." I tell him and he smiles. "I love you Ana." he says. "I love you too Hernan."

We head to bed and are lying there together when his phone rings. He answers and turns it on speaker so that I can hear. "What did you find out Bruno?" he asks. "Looks like this was Domingo's third strike and I heard them talking about shipping him to Seagate." Bruno says. "Shit. Well, that's one more we don't have to worry about." Hernan says. "What about Mariah?" I ask. "She's being denied bail. Apparently they got a tip to check her financials and saw that she was laundering money. But here's the big money item. Some evidence turned up of her killing Cottonmouth so she's going down for that too." he tells us. Hernan looks at me and I just wink. We end the call with Bruno and Hernan looks at me and says "You set all of that up?" I looked at him and said "I know I should have ran it by you first but it was sort of an insurance policy." I tell him. "I'm not mad but from here out, I need a heads up." he tells me. "Yes, my King." I say as I straddle him before we make love again.

The next morning, I get up and head to my office. I had been sitting in there for over an hour when Hernan walks in. "What's on your mind my Queen?" he asks as he walks over and kneels in front of me. "Just trying to figure out a few more ways to give back." I say. "What are you thinking?" he asks. "My best friend growing up was homeless. She was thrown out by her parents because she didn't fit in their good Christian lifestyle. There's an apartment building over on the other side of town that, if it's repaired, would be a good place to bring these kids in to help them get jobs and GED's and help then get a new start." I tell him. He looks at me and smiles. "You never cease to amaze me. Is that what you want?" he asks. "Yeah. It is. These kids will only grow up to be thugs and end up working for the next Cottonmouth. What if we could help them get on their feet and them work for us so that we can guide them." I say. "That's a great idea. Give me the address and I'll send Quinton to check it out for us. See if it's worth buying." he says. I stand up and put my arms around his neck and say "Thank you." He kisses me softly and says "I'd do anything for you." I smile and says "I'd do anything for you too."

A couple of hours later, Quinton shows up and took some pictures to show us. "I looked at the building and the only thing that really needs to be done is to be cleaned and furnished. It's more or less ready to go." he tells us. "That's great." I say. "I called a friend of mine that owns her own cleaning company and she said that she would give us a good deal on cleaning it up." Quinton says. "That's great. Thanks." I say and he nods. "Here's the owner's info. He said to call him and he'd discuss the details of the sale if you want the building." Quinton says before bidding us goodnight and heading out. I look at Hernan and he says "Looks like my Queen is giving back."


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

After getting the apartments cleaned and furnished, I walk into the office of the local homeless shelter. "Can I help you?" Carmen says. "I hope so. My name is Ana Alvarez and this is my husband Shades Alvarez. We work for Diamondback Industries. We would like to talk to you about something that I think we could help each other with." I tell her. "What would that be?" she asks. "How many teens and young adults do you have that come in here?" Shades asks. "Close to a hundred. Why?" she asks. "Well, we just recently bought an apartment building and there are fifty apartments. They are all two bedroom apartments so we could help house all hundred of those kids." I tell her. "How?" she asks. "Here's what we have planned. We want to give back and Diamondback Industries knows that if these kids are left to their own vices that they are just going to end up in jail or dead. We want to prevent that. We want to help them get GED's, help them find jobs. Help them get on their feet. Give them the chance that they thought had passed by." I tell her. "That's great. What can I do?" she asks. "I have a couple of people over at the apartment building to be screened. They will talk to them, find out what their talents are, what skills they have, so that we know how to help them. Can you get them there?" I ask. "I sure can." she tells me before shaking our hands.

The next day, we are looking over some of the tenants profiles and I see one that's eighteen and pregnant. I pick up my phone and say "Quinton, can you bring me Shelby James?" I ask. "Yes ma'am." he tells me before ending the call. Hernan comes to my door and asks "Why are you wanting to see her?" I look at him and say "She's eighteen and pregnant. I want to make sure she's getting the right medical care for her and the baby." I tell him and he smiles softly. "Do you realize how amazing you are?" he asks and I shake my head no. "Well, I do." he tells me before kissing me softly.

Shelby is lead into the office and she asks "Did I do something?" I shake my head no and say "No honey. I was looking at your file and it said you were pregnant and I wanted to talk to you." I tell her. "There aren't many places that are going to hire you with you being pregnant so I have a proposition for you." I tell her. "Okay." she says. "I need an assistant. You can work for me and we can set you up in the guest house. You can even bring the baby to work with you so you don't have to worry about child care." I tell her. "Seriously? That would be great." she says. "Perfect. I'll have Quinton take you to get your things and the guest house is a two bedroom so you will have your own room and so will the baby." I tell her. "Thank you. Seriously." she tells us.

After she leaves, I sit in my office with the door closed. To be that young and pregnant. I don't know what I would have done if I were in her shoes. I shake my head and go on looking at the files. A little later, I move to the kitchen and start dinner but I am quiet. Hernan walks in as I get it done and he wraps his arms around me and pulls me back into him. "You okay baby?" he asks. "Yeah. Just been reading over these kids' files. Some of them are on the streets because their families abandoned them. How could someone do that to their own child?" I ask. "I don't know baby but we're helping them get that second chance. You're helping them get that second chance." he tells me and I kiss him softly before handing him his plate before getting mine.

That night, we head to bed and I snuggle into Hernan and fall asleep with my husband's arms around me. I have a man that loves me and I get to do the one thing I wanted to do with my life...help people.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

After getting Shelby moved in, Hernan gave her a cell phone so that she could call us if she needed us. "Shelby, have you been seeing a doctor?" I ask. "At the free clinic. Haven't been able to get my prenatals but the doctor says that since I don't eat junk food and only eat healthy, when I can eat, she seems pretty strong." she tells me. "Well, tomorrow, I'm setting you up with my doctor and we will get what you need. After the appointment, you and I will go shopping and start getting things that you and the baby need. You thought of any names?" I ask. "Lanie Marie." she tells me. "That's beautiful. So, we will get what you and Lanie need." I tell her. "Thank you again." she tells me. "Sweetheart, you don't have to thank us. You're family now. We take care of each other." I tell her.

That night, Hernan and I are lying in bed and I have my head on his chest but not saying anything. "You okay baby?" he asks. I look up at him and say "Yeah. Just thinking about Shelby and the baby." I tell him. He asks "You wanting one?" I shake my head and say "No. Not right now anyway. We have too much going on." I tell him as I lay my head back on his chest. Truth is that I do want one. He tilts my head up to look at him. "Do you want a baby?" he asks. I lay my head back down and say "Someday." He turns facing me and hovers over me. Looking into my eyes he says "If you want to try for a baby, we can." I shake my head and say "We have too much going on." Kissing me softly he says "If my Queen wants a family, we'll have a family. You have an assistant and I have a few more people that I can get to do the footwork for you if needed." he tells me. "Are you sure?" I ask. He kisses me before trailing kisses down my neck. In between kisses he says "I'm sure baby." I pull his face up to look at me and say "Thank you." He kisses me again before we start to undress and he makes love to me over and over again, all night.

Waking up the next morning, I get out of bed and walk into the kitchen to see someone cooking. "Hello?" I ask. "Hello Mrs Alvarez. I'm Samantha. You're housekeeper." she tells me. Hernan walks in behind me and says "I hired a housekeeper. This way, you can get work done and we can concentrate on starting our family. She's a live in." he tells me and I shake my head, smiling. "Well, then, good morning Samantha. Please, call me Ana." I say and she nods and smiles. "I'm gonna head out to get Shelby." I tell him. About that time, Shelby walks into the kitchen. "Already called her." We sit down to eat and I tell Shelby "After we eat, you and I are going shopping. Well, have everything delivered. Have you thought about what color you want the nursery?" I ask. "I don't really want anything really girly. Just something simple. The soft green that it is now, is perfect." she tells me and I nod. We finish eating and head out shopping.

As we walk around the store, I start making notes of the things we buy. Shelby sees me and I say "Just making notes of the things we are going to need. Shades and I are trying for a baby." I tell her and she smiles. "So maybe our kids can grow up together." she tells me. "Hope so. I tell her. After shopping, we head to the doctor and get her setup with prenatals and she will be seen every week until she delivers.

That night, I am sitting at my desk, looking over some paperwork when Hernan walks in. "Hey baby." he says as he walks over and kisses me softly. "Hey." I say. "You ready for bed?" he asks. "Yeah. Just let me finish this." I tell him. He takes my hand and pulls me to stand and says "I want my wife to come to bed. We have a little prince or princess to make." I smile and follow him to our room where we make love all night...again.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Shelby has been living with us for over a month and has been doing great as an assistant. Hernan and I are still trying for a baby as well. Sitting in my office going over the plans for the day, I look at Shelby and see she's rubbing her stomach more than normal. "Are you okay?" I ask. "Yeah. Just having some pains." she tells me. "Sweetheart, are you having contractions?" I ask and she nods her head yes. "Okay. Are you timing them?" I ask. "They're about twenty minutes apart right now." she tells me. "Well, let's clear the calendar for the day and relax. Looks like little Lanie might make an appearance soon." I tell her. Picking up my phone, I make a few calls to clear the calendar. Hernan walks in and says "Bruno said you have him on call. Everything okay?" he asks. "Shelby's having contractions so I figured it would be good to have him ready to go." I tell him. "Good. Shelby, you have your overnight bag and Lanie's ready?" She nods her head yes and he says "I'll go get them that way they are close." She breathes through another contraction before saying "Thank you."

A few hours later, Shelby stands to go to the bathroom and her water breaks. "Looks like it's time to meet little Lanie." I tell her smiling. She's smiling too. I help her down the stairs and to the car. Once in the car I call Hernan. "Hey baby. Everything okay?" he asks. "We're on the way to the hospital. Shelby's water broke." I tell him. "I'll meet you there." he tells me and we end the call. We get to the hospital and once inside, we get her into a private room. Hernan meets us at the room and I am sitting by her side while Hernan is sitting in one of the chairs on the other side of the room. "Do you need anything Shelby?" Hernan asks. "Some ice chips would be great." she tells him. Getting up, he kisses me softly before touching her foot and saying "I'll be right back. Just breathe and relax." She nods before another contraction hits. While he's gone, the doctor comes in and gives her the epidural when Hernan comes in with the ice chips. A couple of hours later, it's time to push. I am on one side and Hernan is on the other, helping her push. Hernan is being careful not to get in a position to see more than she's comfortable with but as soon as the baby is born, he walks over and makes sure that the baby is okay while I am making sure she's okay.

That night, I ask Shelby "Do you want me to stay here with you?" She shakes her head no and says "I'd like a little time just me and my daughter if that's okay." I smile softly and say "You have our number if you need anything. I'll be back in the morning to check on you two." She smiles and says "Thank you for everything. Seriously." We both nod before walking out the door. Lying in bed that night, we are talking. "That was amazing. I've never seen anything like that before." He tells me. "I know. Seeing her go through that. Giving birth. It was just, breathtaking." I tell him. "I can't wait to have our own." he tells me and I smile.

The next morning, my phone starts ringing. "Hello?" I ask as I answer. "Mrs Alvarez?" she asks. "This is she." I say. "This is Martha Jones at Harlem Central Hospital. I have you down as the emergency contact for Shelby James." she says. "That's correct. Is she okay?" I ask. "She signed herself out this morning but there's a problem." she tells me. I sit up straight in the bed and Hernan sits up with me with a worried look on his face. "What is it?" I ask. "She left her daughter. Said to contact you, that you would make sure she had a good home." she tells me. "I'm on my way." I tell her, ending the call. "What it is?" Hernan asks as I get out of bed and rush to get dressed. "Shelby signed herself out of the hospital and left Lanie saying to call me that I would make sure she had a good home." I tell him. We both get dressed and head out the door.

Quinton is driving us and Hernan calls Bruno and tells him to find Shelby. We walk into the hospital and I ask to speak to Ms Jones. She shows us to the nursery and says "Ms James said that she couldn't be a mother. She didn't want the baby. You're the emergency contact. What would you like us to do?" she asks. "When can she go home?" Hernan asks. "Not for another 24 hours." she tells us. "Stay here with Lanie and I'll see what I can find out about Shelby." Hernan tells me. I nod. He kisses me before walking away. "Can I hold her?" I ask. "Of course. She needs that human contact." Ms Jones tells me. We walk into the nursery and I sit in the rocker while the nurse hands Lanie to me. "Hey baby girl. Don't you worry. We'll make everything better. I promise." I tell her as she looks up at me. The nurse hands me a bottle and I start feeding her as a tear falls down my cheek. As I am feeding her, Hernan is lead into the room. "We found Shelby. Bruno is bringing her to the house to talk to us." he says. I burp Lanie and tell Ms Jones "My husband and I will be back shortly." I kiss the top of her head and hand her back to Ms Jones.

Walking into the house, we see Shelby sitting on the couch with Bruno standing to the side, watching her. I walk over and sit beside her. I start to speak but Hernan beats me to it. "Shelby, we need to know what's going on." he says softly, no judgement in his voice. "I can't be her mom. I didn't even want to have her but I just couldn't bring myself to abort her." she tells us. "What are you wanting to do?" I ask. "You said you were trying to have a baby so I thought you could raise her." she says, looking at her hands. "Let me ask this. What would you have done with your life had you not been pregnant?" She looks at her hands and says "Culinary school." I look at Hernan and he says "Okay. Here's what we are going to do. We'll pay for one year of culinary school for you but you will have to handle it after that. You move back to the apartment building until you can get on your feet and find a job. But you are signing over all rights to Lanie and allowing us to adopt her." he says and I look at him shocked. "Really?" she asks. "Yes. I'll get the lawyer to bring the papers. But after those papers are signed, you're just another tennant. You won't contact Lanie. You won't ask about her. Had you told us beforehand that this was what you wanted, we would have already had this done and you would have been on your way but you never said anything." he says. "I didn't know how to say anything." she says. "Well, I'll get the lawyer here and from here out, she's our daughter." he tells her, walking away with his phone in his hand. "Is he mad at me?" she asks. "I don't think so. If he were he wouldn't have offered to pay for school or let you move back into the apartments but we mean it, Shelby. Once those papers are signed, she no longer exists to you. Once she's eighteen, we'll tell her and if she wants to look you up then, she can but until then, she belongs to me and Shades." I tell her. "I understand." she tells me.

An hour later, Shelby has signed over her rights and we signed the adoption papers. We still have thirty days before it's final but she's our daughter. Bruno and Carlos are moving the things from the nursery in the guest house into the nursery in the main house so we have somewhere to put Lanie. Walking into the hospital, I see Ms Jones and give her a copy of the paperwork showing we are her parents now. I sit in the rocking chair and the nurse hands Lanie to me. "Hey baby girl. Looks like you got a new mommy and daddy." I tell her. Hernan kneels in front of us and kisses the top of her head and says "You're our little princess."


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

The next day, Hernan and I take Lanie home. Sitting on the couch in the living room, I see Quinton come in with a bassinet. Setting it up for us in the living room, he pats Hernan on the shoulder and walks out. I'm sitting back, feeding Lanie and she's looking up at me and I'm just staring at her. Hernan walks over and sits next to me. "What's on your mind Momma?" he asks. "Just looking at her. How could Shelby be so selfish? How could she just abandon this little girl like that?" I ask. "I don't know baby. I really don't. But I do know that she's going to grow up with two parents that love her more than anything and will do anything for her. She won't know that she was abandoned." he tells me. "I hope not. She's perfect Hernan." I say. "She is." he says. I move to burp her and he says "Let me see my daughter." I smile as I hand her to him. She looks up at him and snuggles into him and goes to sleep. "I guess she's a Daddy's girl already." I say. "Daddy's little Princess." he says smiling.

Later that evening, I am sitting in my office, Lanie in the bassinet that we moved upstairs to my office, and I'm going through some emails. I see one that catches my attention. Opening the email, I see it's a picture of Hernan and a woman. Pulling up the message it says _This was taken while you were at the hospital with your daughter._ I look at the picture again and see that they are both naked and she's kissing on his neck and his eyes are closed. I close the email and look at Lanie as I fight off the tears. Hernan walks into the office and sees me. "What's wrong?" he asks, concerned. "Can you watch Lanie? I...um...I need to step out a minute." I say. "Yeah. Sure. Are you okay?" he asks. "Yeah. I'm good." I say. I step out and into the bedroom and into the bathroom, locking the door. I sit on the side of the tub and just stare at my hands. He cheated on me. Why would he cheat on me? I ask myself. Not finding the answer and knowing he'll come looking for me, I splash water on my face, put on a brave face and head back to the office.

Walking back into the office, I take Lanie from him and turn away, rocking her back to sleep. "I got you baby girl. I got you." I whisper to her as she drifts back off. Putting her back in the bassinet, I move back to my seat and look back at the computer, ignoring Hernan. He walks over and turns off my monitor so I have to look at him. "What?" I ask. "What's wrong?" he asks. "Nothing. I have some work to do." I tell him, turning the monitor back on. He sighs and walks out of the room. I put my head in my hands and take deep breaths trying not to cry.

After getting Lanie to bed, I head to the shower. Once I rinse off, I feel his arms wrap around me. I move out of his reach and out of the shower, leaving him standing. I head to my office, closing the door. I pull up my email and can't help but look at that picture again trying to figure out what she has that I don't. My office door opens and he closes it behind him. "What's wrong and don't tell me nothing." he says. I don't say anything. I turn my monitor to face him and he sees the picture and I hear him sigh. "Is it true?" I ask. He doesn't answer. "Is it true?" I ask again and he nods. "Ana…" he says but I stop him. I stand and say "I'm taking Lanie to a hotel. I'll send for the rest of our things. Your whore can move in once I'm gone." I tell him. I go to walk past him and he says "It was a mistake and it was one time. It never should have happened." he tells me. "You're right. It shouldn't have. But it did." I tell him as I pull away from him. "I'll go. You and Lanie stay here." he tells me and I nod. I walk to Lanie's room and close the door. I sit in the rocker and just watch her sleep as the tears pour down my face.

The next day, I am in the kitchen, feeding Lanie when Bruno walks in. "Morning boss." He says and I don't look up. "Are you okay?" he asks. "Fine." I say. He says "You know, I look at you like a sister Ana. You've always made sure that I knew I belonged here." he tells me. "I'm glad." I tell him as another tear falls. "I know what happened." he says and I look up at him. "Doesn't matter. It was never meant to last anyway." I tell him. "That's bull and you know it. I know what happened with him. Wasn't what you think." he tells me. "Doesn't matter." I tell him again. "That man loves you and your little girl. Ana, he didn't sleep with her. He thought he did." I look at him confused but before I could ask he says "She is his ex. She wanted to meet at her office to talk about a business deal she wanted to bring to him. She gave him a drink and it was spiked. When he passed out, she stripped him and herself down and took pictures. Said if he didn't do what she wanted then she'd send the pictures to you. I found out there was security footage and hacked into it. I'll show it to you if you want." he tells me. "Yeah. I want to see it." I tell him.

An hour later, Bruno showed me the video. "I want everything you can find on her. I'm gonna call Shades and tell him to come home. I'll show him the video." I tell him. "Good. I'll get back to you as soon as I get the intel." he says before walking out. I take out my phone and call his number. "Ana? Baby?" he says as he answers. "Can you come home? We need to talk." I tell him. "Yeah. I'll be there in a few." he tells me. Twenty minutes later, he walks in the door and I'm still sitting at the island with my laptop, holding Lanie. Hernan reaches for her and I hand her to him. "We need to talk." I tell him. I turn the laptop towards him and hit play. I see his eyes go wide when he sees that he didn't do anything. "This means…" he starts. "You didn't sleep with her." I tell him. "Does that mean…" he starts asking "You can come home. I have Bruno getting more intel on her. I will handle her. You won't." I tell him. "You can't do this alone." He tells me. "You won't be there. You won't be near her. This one is mine." I tell him still pissed off. I get up and walk out of the room for a minute to get my temper in check. He gives me a minute before walking into the living room and walking to me. "Ana?" he asks. I turn to him and he asks "Are we okay?" Sighing, I walk over and kiss him softly and say "Yeah, Hernan, we're okay." I tell him before kissing him one more time and taking our daughter from him.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

A couple of hours later, Hernan is sitting on the couch, still holding Lanie and I am sitting in my office. I am still not ready to just be okay with everything. Bruno knocks on my office door and steps in. "I got that intel." he tells me. "Good." I say as he takes a seat in front of me. "Her name is Christina Williams. Her company isn't as large as yours but is still pretty substantial. I have someone watching her but we need more personal info on her. Boss, we need to talk to Shades." he says. "You talk to him. He'll tell you." I tell him, looking out the window. "You need to talk to him." he says. "I know. I know he didn't do anything but it just made me realize just how easily it could happen." I tell him. "What are you talking about?" he asks. "Just made me wonder is all. How easy would it be for him to if he got tired of me or if something better came along." I say. "Ana, you have to get out of your own head. He loves you. I promise you that." he tells me and I nod. Hernan knocks on the door. "I'm putting Lanie down for her nap." he says as he brings her to me to kiss the top of her head. "When you put her down, we need to talk." I tell him.

A few minutes later, Hernan walks into my office and sits on the couch beside Bruno. "I need you to tell Bruno what you know about Christina." I tell him, still not looking at him. "She and I dated for almost two years. She wanted to get married, I didn't. She wanted kids and I didn't. When we split up, she didn't take it very well and wouldn't leave me alone there for awhile." he tells us. "How long was this before we met?" I ask. "Few months." he says and I get up and walk out of the room. I walk into our bedroom and sit on the bed, against the headboard. He walks in and sits next to me, not touching me. "You didn't want to get married or have kids." I tell him. "No." he says. "Did you want to marry me? Have kids with me?" I ask and he says "Yes." I shake my head and say "So over the course of a couple of months, you completely changed your mind about marriage and kids? Right." I say, getting up from the bed. "Ana, listen to me." he says. I turn and lean against the dresser and cross my arms over my chest. "I didn't want those things. Not with her. When we were together, she cared more about moving up the corporate ladder and status than she did about being a wife and mother. All she talked about was running the business and us merging and having a nanny raise our kids. I didn't want that." he tells me. "I met you and that changed. You saw me. You loved me." he says. I sit there for a minute and then run to the bathroom, sick. "You okay?" he asks as he's rubbing my back while I brush my teeth. "Fine." I tell him, brushing him off. Walking back into the office, I tell Bruno "I want a meeting with her." I tell him and he nods and picks up his phone as he walks out of the room. "Are you okay?" he asks. "I'm fine. I need you to stay with Lanie for a bit. I have an errand to run." I tell him. "I'll call Quinton to take you." he says and I nod.

Half an hour later, I'm sitting at my doctor's office with Quinton sitting beside me. "He doesn't find out I'm here." I tell him and he nods. Being taken back to an exam room, the doctor asks "What seems to be the problem today?" I look at my hands and say "I need a pregnancy test." She nods and has the nurse draw blood. Twenty minutes later, she walks in and says "The test came back positive. Let's do an ultrasound and see how far along you are." she says. After doing the ultrasound, she tells me that I am seven weeks pregnant.

Walking into the house, I go to my office and close the door. A few minutes later, Hernan walks in and I have tears in my eyes. Slowly kneeling in front of me he asks "Are you okay?" I look up at him and say "I went to the doctor. Hernan, I'm pregnant." I tell him. He smiles softly and says "Baby, that's a good thing. Are you happy about it?" he asks. "I am but what if…" I start but cut myself off. "What if what baby?" he asks. "What if you change your mind? What if you decide you don't want this with me anymore?" I ask. "Baby, look at me. I will never change my mind. You, our daughter and our new baby, you're all I want and need. I promise." he tells me. I lean down and kiss him softly and say "I love you Hernan." He pulls me to stand and pulls me close and says "I love you too Ana."


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

An hour later, I am sitting in the back of the car, headed to see Christina. I walk into her office and when she sees me, she says "I thought I was meeting with Shades." I smirk and say "No, you're meeting with the other Alvarez. Now, you're going to sit down and you're going to listen to me. And listen close. That little stunt you pulled with my husband? Well, it didn't have the effect you wanted it to have. Shades and I are still together and nothing will change that. Now, you're going to pack up your business and get your shit together and get the hell out of Harlem." I tell her. "And if I don't?" she asks. "Then I will make sure you disappear." I tell her. "He's going to come back to me." she tells me. "Oh honey, he never wanted to marry you or have kids with you. But he does with me. Now, you have twenty four hours to do what I say and one of my men will be watching you to make sure that you don't do anything stupid." I tell her before walking out of her office. I look at Clem, our newest guy and say "She doesn't leave your sight." He nods before heading into her office to make sure that she does what I say.

I walk back into the house and to my office and Hernan walks in behind me, holding Lanie. "How'd it go?" he asks. I don't look at him but say "Told her she has twenty four hours to get out of Harlem and Clem is watching her." I tell him. I open my laptop and get back to work. "Ana…" he starts and I stop him. "I have a lot of work to do." I tell him and Lanie starts crying. I stand up and walk over to him, taking her from him and say "Bruno is waiting for you." He nods before leaning in to kiss me and I turn my head and he gets my cheek. Shaking his head, he walks out of the room and I walk over to the desk with Lanie. I look down at her and say "I'm so sorry baby girl. Mommy and Daddy love you so much but I don't know what to do here." I whisper to her.

When Hernan comes back, I am in the nursery feeding Lanie. He stops at the door and just watches me. "Hey." he says softly. I don't look up but say "Hey." He walks over and kneels in front of me and asks "Are we okay?" I don't say anything but shrug my shoulders. He tilts my chin up to look at him and says "Baby, I love you." I feel the tears start to fall and ask "Am I enough for you?" He kisses me softly and says "Baby, you are everything to me. You and our kids are all I will ever need." he tells me as he wipes my tears away. "Hernan…" I start and he stops me with another kiss. "I love you. You are the only one I will ever want or need. Please don't ever doubt that." he tells me and I nod. "Let's put the Princess down and go lay down. I know you haven't been sleeping and it's not good for the baby." he tells me and I nod again.

After putting Lanie in her crib, we head to bed and lay down. I lay with my back to him and his hand is on my stomach. "I love you." he whispers. "I love you too." I whisper back. He pulls me closer and I still don't respond. Turning me onto my back, he kisses me softly and hovers over me. He starts pulling up my top and I stop him. "Please don't." I whisper. Cupping my face, he says "What's going through your head?" he asks. "Hernan, I just keep thinking about that picture and I know how easy it would be for you to find someone else and I'm going to be getting fat and…" I start and he stops me with a kiss that's completely soul searing. "You are the only one baby." he says simply before kissing me again and he starts to undress me and I try to stop him again but he whispers "Let me show you how much I want you baby." I look into his eyes and see so much love. I nod and he kisses me again before spending the rest of the night making love to me nice and slow before we both find our release together and he pulls me into his chest and holds me while I fall asleep in his arms.


End file.
